Programme structure
This Master's degree programme is a two year programme consisting of a total of 120 ECTS credits.
The master's degree consists of:
Either
- Obligatory and elective courses (60 credits) and 60 credits master’s thesis
Or
- Obligatory and elective courses (90 credits) and 30 credits master thesis
Throughout the two years, the students will attend a joint seminar for all students on the program, every semester.
Course of Study
Programme structure - 60 credits Master's thesis
| 4. semester | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 3. semester | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2. semester | Optional course | Optional course | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1. semester | Optional course / NFI4120 – Old Norse - Language and Texts or IRSK4200 – Introduction to Old Irish | Optional course | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 10 ECTS credits | 10 ECTS credits | 10 ECTS credits | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Programme structure - 30 credits Master's thesis
| 4. semester | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 4. semester | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2. semester | Optional course | Optional course | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1. semester | Optional course / NFI4120 – Old Norse - Language and Texts or IRSK4200 – Introduction to Old Irish | Optional course | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 10 ECTS credits | 10 ECTS credits | 10 ECTS credits | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Compulsory courses
HIS4100 – Viking and Medieval Europe: Interdisciplinary Perspectives VMS4100 – Philological theory and Method - Either NFI4120 – Old Norse - Language and Texts or IRSK4200 – Introduction to Old Irish. (Students who have not previously taken either NFI1101 – Norrøn grammatikk og eldre språkhistorie or IRSK2200 – Introduction to Old Irish, or equivalent courses, are required to take either NFI4120 – Old Norse - Language and Texts or IRSK4200 – Introduction to Old Irish
Optional courses
The remaining courses can be chosen from the optional courses listed below (the courses offered will vary from semester to semester).
The following courses are offered in the autumn semester:
ARK4140 – The Archaeology of Migration and Mobility ARK4070 – Environmental Archaeology and Archaeometry ENG4165 – Old English: Language and History HIS4217 – History of the World in the Year 1000 ILN4200 – Research project in Linguistics and Scandinavian Studies ILN4210 – Professional practice for Linguistics and Scandinavian Studies IRSK4200 – Introduction to Old Irish IRSK4303 – Celtic Mythological Texts (every other autumn)NFI4100 – Runology - General Introduction
The following courses are offered in the spring semester:
ARK4130 – From the Bronze Age to the Vikings and Beyond. Archaeological Analysis of Past Technology ARK4210 – Kulturarvsarkeologi: om fortid i samtid HIS4125 – Power and Violence from Vikings to Knights HIS4209 – Utopisk tenkning i middelalderen: idealsamfunn, alteritet og forestillinger om et bedre liv HIS4223 – Vold gjennom historien IRSK4400 – Special Topic in Celtic Studies (every other spring)NFI4105 – Hands-on Runology – Documenting, Editing, and Curating Runic Inscriptions (every other spring)NFI4111 – Old Norse Palaeography and Codicology NFI4122 – Runology - Runic Inscriptions of the Middle Ages (every other spring)NFI4123 – Runology - Runic Inscriptions from the Migration Period to the Viking Age (every other spring)
The following courses are offered on an irregular basis (usually in the autumn):
ENG4166 – Middle English, introduction HIS4129 – Topics in Early Medieval Culture HIS4211 – Political and Legal Culture in the Middle Ages HIS4915 – Fair Trial: Meting Out Justice from Antiquity to the Present IRSK4080 – Guided reading in Celtic, especially Irish, Language and Philology B IRSK4160 – Specilization Course in Celtic IRSK4180 – Supervised self-study in Celtic, especially Irish, Language and Philology A LING4223 – Germansk og indoeuropeisk språkvitskap NFI4080 – Veiledet lesning i middelalderstudier NFI4102 – Norrøn grammatikk, varierende emner NFI4112 – Scaldic Poetry and Grammatical Literature NFI4121 – The Poetic Edda - from the Oral to the Written NFI4402 – Current Research in Medieval Studies II with focus on Literary sources VMS4101 – Medieval manuscript culture VMS4102 – Saga Narrative
None of the HIS-courses are taught with any predictable regularity, since none of them are service courses to the History MA-program. Offerings each semester depend on staff availability, but there is always one or two HIS4000-level courses on offer in medieval history.
A maximum of 20 ECTS can be from other courses than those listed above if the course is relevant for your Master's Thesis and approved by your supervisor.
A maximum of 20 ECTS in Guided Reading courses can be part of the master degree.
The last two semesters
There are two possible options:
- either you write a master thesis worth 60 ECTS credits during the third and fourth semester: VMS4190 – Master's thesis in Viking and Medieval Studies or VMSIAKH4190 – Master's thesis in Viking and Medieval Studies
- or you take courses worth 30 ECTS credits in the third semester and write a master thesis worth 30 ECTS credit in the fourth semester: VMS4195 – Master's thesis in Viking and Medieval Studies or VMSIAKH4195 – Master's thesis in Viking and Medieval Studies
The credits in the third semester can be ILN4900 – Project Semester for Linguistics and Scandinavian Studies or ILN4950 – Research project semester for Linguistics and Scandinavian Studies or optional courses from this list above.
It is mandatory to write your thesis under supervision.
Overseas students are expected to acquire the necessary skills to read Scandinavian specialist literature.
Programme Structure for students who started in August 2019 or earlier
| 4. semester | VMS4195 – Master's thesis in Viking and Medieval Studies (30 ECTS) or VMS4190 – Master's thesis in Viking and Medieval Studies (60 ECTS) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 3. semester | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2. semester | Optional course | Optional course | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1. semester | Optional course / NFI4120 – Old Norse - Language and Texts | Optional course | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 10 ECTS credits | 10 ECTS credits | 10 ECTS credits | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The first two semesters
During both the first and the second semester all students will each semester take three courses each worth 10 ECTS credits. During the first semester it is compulsory to take VMS4100 – Philological theory and Method. Students who have not taken NFI1101 – Norrøn grammatikk og eldre språkhistorie, or an equivalent course, must also take NFI4120 – Old Norse - Language and Texts during the first semester. VMS4200 – Philology in an interdisciplinary perspective (discontinued) is compulsory the second semester. The remaining courses can be chosen from the optional courses listed below. Students planning to write their thesis within the field of Old Norse or Celtic Philology are strongly recommended to take certain courses.
Compulsory courses
VMS4100 – Philological theory and Method VMS4200 – Philology in an interdisciplinary perspective (discontinued) NFI4120 – Old Norse - Language and Texts (not compulsory for students who have taken NFI1101)
Optional courses
a) Minimum 20 ECTS must be from the following list:
IRSK4160 – Specilization Course in Celtic IRSK4180 – Supervised self-study in Celtic, especially Irish, Language and Philology A IRSK4303 – Celtic Mythological Texts NFI4080 – Veiledet lesning i middelalderstudier NFI4100 – Runology - General Introduction NFI4102 – Norrøn grammatikk, varierende emner NFI4111 – Old Norse Palaeography and Codicology NFI4112 – Scaldic Poetry and Grammatical Literature NFI4121 – The Poetic Edda - from the Oral to the Written NFI4122 – Runology - Runic Inscriptions of the Middle Ages NFI4123 – Runology - Runic Inscriptions from the Migration Period to the Viking Age NFI4402 – Current Research in Medieval Studies II with focus on Literary sources NOR4103 – Norsk språkhistorie VMS4101 – Medieval manuscript culture
b) Maximum 20 ECTS can be from the following list:
ARK4130 – From the Bronze Age to the Vikings and Beyond. Archaeological Analysis of Past Technology ENG4120 – English Medieval Manuscript Studies (discontinued) ENG4165 – Old English: Language and History HIS4129 – Topics in Early Medieval Culture HIS4133 – The Cult of Saints in Norway and Iceland, c. 950-1250 (discontinued) HIS4140 – Objects and Identities in the Viking Age (c.750-c.1050) (discontinued) HIS4143 – What caused the Viking Age? (discontinued)
A maximum of 20 ECTS can be from other courses than those listed above under b) if the course is relevant for your Master's Thesis and approved by your supervisor.
The last two semesters
There are two possible options:
- either you write a master thesis worth 60 ECTS credits during the third and fourth semester: VMS4190 – Master's thesis in Viking and Medieval Studies,
- or you take ILN4900 – Project Semester for Linguistics and Scandinavian Studies during the third semester and write a master thesis worth 30 ECTS credits during the fourth semester: VMS4195 – Master's thesis in Viking and Medieval Studies.
It is mandatory to write your thesis under supervision.
Overseas students are expected to acquire the necessary skills to read Scandinavian specialist literature.
Diploma and degree
The diploma is issued when you have completed the courses that meet the requirements for a degree. Read more about diplomas.